Beautiful
by feather-ink
Summary: Envy has low self esteem. Lust makes sure to tell him he's beautiful. Slight Angst, sort of a mother son relationship between the two


I wanted to write a short little something for Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and as I was selling my soul on Tumblr, I found a post about Lust and Envy and how Lust told Envy that he was beautiful every day so he wouldn't feel so bad about himself. I fell in love with it so, as these things go, I wrote it. I hope you like it!

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><p>He sat by a river, outside Central, he could make out a train in the distance thanks to his homunculus hearing but that was it. He was alone.<p>

Alone with his thoughts.

_Stupid pitiful __**ugly**_ _Envy_

Pride had hissed from the shadows as he left the antechamber earlier. Envy wasn't all that fond of his older brother. Pride was pride, he was unbearable. Envy hated him, almost as much as he hated the humans. Lust sometimes teased him, but she never meant anything by it. Pride though, he chose his statements with the specifics to tear Envy apart.

And it worked _every god damned time._

Envy stared at the surface of the river, sifting through faces, always coming back to his original.

He growled and splashed at the water, destroying the still and creating ripples in the surface. A growl bubbled from his lips and he fell onto his back, slamming his fist into the ground beside him, creating a small crater.

"Rough day?"

He could pick Lust's voice out anywhere and here in the calm before the storm, it was crystal clear.

Envy chose not to respond as Lust daintily sat down, folding her legs to her side. She settled a hand in his hair, curling the tendrils around her fingers in the way she always did, gently massaging his scalp at random intervals.

They stayed like that, sitting in silence until the first rain drop fell and Envy growled at it.

"Down boy." Lust joked lightly, patting Envy's head.

"Shut up." he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Ah, I see, Pride said something didn't he?" she guessed.

"What do you think?" Envy snapped.

"Envy, you know he does it just to get under your skin."

"Which one?" he asked angrily. "This one? The monster's? All the other stupid humans I impersonate?"

His voice was climbing as he reached his hysteria. He sat up, turning to face Lust, skin already beginning to bubble green as his left eye divided up.

Lust leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead.

"You really shouldn't listen to Pride, Envy. You're beautiful, I tell you all the time but you never believe me." The older homunculus pulled him closer, holding him in a loose hug.

Envy's skin became pale once again and his eyes returned to their usual violet, single iris and all. He let Lust hold him, the action was familiar at this point.

"Better?" she asked once the rain had progressed to a downpour.

Envy looked up at her. Her dark hair clung to her face, dazzling with the rain drops decorating her like diamonds. Lust really was the beautiful one, no one needed to tell her that. She _knew_. It made Envy feel all the more pitiful that he had to rely on Lust, of all people in the world, to convince him he was worth something.

"Marginally." he admitted, albeit grudgingly.

"I mean it Envy, you know I do." Lust seemed to have taken over the mother figure for all of them, with the exception of Pride. Gluttony obviously wouldn't know what to do without her and she used to sing for Sloth when he wanted to rest. Before Greed ran off they had a healthy relationship, but then of course that had been shattered when Lust had to lock him up at the lab.

Envy dug his toes into the drenched grass.

He didn't know very well what Lust was to him. Too caring for a sister, but not quite a mother. An aunt maybe? He wasn't sure. It was as close as he was going to get.

Lust his kissed his forehead again, petting his hair down in a soothing manner.

"You _are_ beautiful Envy, believe me." she whispered.

"If you say so Lust." he said back, laying down so his head rested in her lap. He didn't care that it was raining, he could hardly feel it anyways.

Lust just smiled.

The two homunculi stayed outside, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder until the last drop of rain had fallen.

Lust watched her little brother roll onto his side, facing away from her though still in her lap, she pushed down the clawing human urge to grab his shoulder and make him look her in the eyes, just to make sure he understood that she was telling the truth. Envy had low self-esteem, it was obvious. It was also Pride, and dare she say it, Father's, fault he was like that.

Pride put him down on a daily basis, Father wasn't too kind to him either once upon a time. Long story short, Envy was a leaf in the wind. He didn't stand a chance. Lust did her best to help him, to keep him stable, but Envy hated pity, and even if she didn't pity him per say, it seemed to come off that way, to him at least.

Lust began to get up, pulling Envy with her.

"Come on Pretty Boy, we've got work to do." Lust watched carefully, looking for any sign that Envy may reveal.

A minute grin flicked across his lips, Lust almost missed it, but it was enough. She slipped her arm around his shoulder and tugged him along, taking her time as she tugged him back to Central.

Later, when he would learn of her death, Envy would walk up and down the river, shifting into Lust's form and telling himself that he was beautiful, using her voice to authenticate it. He hoped it would help him feel better.

It never worked.

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><p>Sorry, I'm a sucker for angst, that's not a good thing. Anyhow, I hope you all liked this, please tell me what you think!<p>

Thank you Lovelies!

~feather-ink


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